Wilde Satirizes Marriage

As a fan of the Jane Austen and Bronte sisters, I became intrigued by the play The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde. Also, I watched numerous films such as Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Jane Eyre, and Wuthering Heights so I was pretty much informed about the values and etiquettes in this regency period. Therefore, I was greatly amused by this play since it hilariously satirizes the society of England around the 1800s. First of all, the play satirizes and mocks the idea of marriage. From the beginning, Algernon confidently states “I have often observed that in married households the champagne is rarely of a first-rate brand” (1). Algernon is satirizing marriage through this claim insisting that marriage often spoils the pleasures of life. In the novels of Jane Austen, Austen often depicts marriage as a happy union joined by two people who love each other deeply. Yet, Wilde undermines this whole idea by presenting women as silly and imaginary beings and men as deceitful beings who have a double life. The women who are presented as silly and imaginary beings are Gwendolyn and Cecily. Gwendolyn presents herself as a naive individual when she states to Jack “the moment Algernon first mentioned to me that he had a friend called Ernest, I knew I was destined to love you” (9). She is basically saying that she is only going to marry Jack because of his alleged name, Ernest. The irony is that Jack is living a double life where he is known as Ernest in the city and Jack in the country. Hence, Wilde is attempting to portray this couple as an insincere couple since they are both not truthful to each other. Furthermore, Gwendolyn further plunges into the depth of imagination when she gets excited about Jack’s mysterious past. After learning that her mother disapproves of Jack, she passionately claims “the story of your romantic origin, as related to me by mamma, with unpleasing comments, has naturally stirred the deeper fibres of my nature” (14). Gwendolyn is in love with the idea of Jack and is excited to marry such a mysterious individual. Yet, in reality, Jack is not mysterious but rather a pleasure seeker who has a double life. Next, the couple of Cecily and Algernon also represents an insincere union that has been fabricated by imaginations and lies. The first meeting between Cecily and Algernon indicates their relationship as fake. Algernon impersonates as Earnest who is not even a real person in order to charm Cecily. Cecily, who has already been intrigued by the bad rumors circulating around Earnest, is immediately attracted to Algernon because he is a bad boy. Cecily even surprises Algernon by revealing that she has been creating this imaginary ideal of their love from a long time ago. She even wrote in her diary “I determined to end the matter one way or the other, and after a long struggle with myself I accepted you under this dear old tree here.  The next day I bought this little ring in your name, and this is the little bangle with the true lover’s knot I promised you always to wear” which didn’t even happen in real life(28). Overall, Wilde is hoping to mock both women and men’s unrealistic ideal toward marriage.

Geishas

Recently, I have been reading a novel called Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden. In this novel, Golden focuses on the main character, Sayuri, who is a geisha. Since the novel focuses on geishas, I thought it would be interesting to analyze the role of geishas in Japanese society and culture. Originally, I thought that geishas were prostitutes who put on white makeup and red lipstick. Yet, my opinion was contradicted by this novel because it depicted geishas as dexterous and clever beings. Therefore, I will analyze the characters of Sayuri, Mameha, Pumpkin, and Hatsumomo who were all geishas. Sayuri is the main character of the novel and becomes a geisha after meeting the Chairman. She admits that she’d set her “sights on becoming a geisha only to win the affections of the Chairman” which seems like a pretty shallow reason (421). Yet, Sayuri is deeply attached to the profession as a geisha because through this job she found herself. She realizes that life is like water. She claims, “But now I know that our world is no more permanent than a wave rising on the ocean. Whatever our struggles and triumphs, however we may suffer them, all too soon they bleed into a wash, just like a watery ink on paper” (428). Through her take on life, we can infer that she has a complex relationship with her profession as a geisha. She claims “the afternoon when I met Mr.Tanaka Ichiro really was the best and worst of my life” (7). The day she met Mr. Tanaka led to her eventual journey into becoming a geisha. Therefore, Sayuri expresses that becoming a geisha was a blessing but also a curse. Her job as a geisha was a blessing she was able to learn many forms of art such as dance and music. Also, she was able to interact with powerful men which taught her the art of socialization. Through this education and socialization, Sayuri was able to become independent and well-informed enough to survive the cruel and harsh world. However, her profession as a geisha also took away her humanity since she was controlled by Mother and men such as Nobu, the General, and Dr. Krab. Next, Mameha views the profession of a geisha as survival. She is extremely realistic and even gives advice to Sayuri by saying “you must be sure that men’s feelings remain always under your control” (295). Therefore, Mameha is very crafty and intelligent so she can control the powerful men around her. Also, she puts her personal feelings aside in order to provide a better life for herself. Meanwhile, Pumpkin and Hatsumomo view the profession of geisha as a way to get what they want. In order words, they became geishas out of greed. Hatsumomo obviously does not take her job seriously as a geisha since she an affair with a married man and drinks excessively. She does not know how to control the men around her and is instead controlled by the men which drives her to madness. Pumpkin is also persuaded to become a geisha in order to elevate her status in Japan. Therefore, she betrays Sayuri in order to advance herself in the geisha industry. Overall, the profession of geisha in Japan is a vital part to Japanese culture and to some people's individuality.